Full Circle Midwifery

Baby’s Name: Morgan Xavier Adams Birthday: 6-16-2009 Weight: 10lbs. 6oz.

This baby was our first baby and our first attempted home birth.

Address: Francis Rd., Hesperia, MI

Why did you choose to have your baby at home?

After talking with another family that had had home births with Patrice years ago, we started researching and it seemed to be the most natural way to go. Patrice and the other midwives were so welcoming and supportive from the beginning that we knew we were making the right choice for us.

Describe your labor and birth:

To begin, our labor and birth did not quite happen as we had hoped, but everything worked out for the best and we ended up with a healthy, beautiful baby.

After three weeks of waiting after our due date past, Patrice sent us into Dr. Michele’s office in Fremont for a NST and BPP. Morgan didn’t quite score high enough on the tests for Dr. Michele to feel good about us going home. We discussed our options (I was in the hospital with my parents and Chad was at work) over the phone with Chad and Patrice. We agreed that staying in the hospital would be best for Morgan and I.

Over the next couple hours, we settled into a room, got something to eat (it had been over 8 hours since I had been able to eat anything), and waited for Patrice andChad to arrive. We discussed our options for induction and a revised birth plan with Dr. Michele, who was very supportive of making the experience as close to how we envisioned it at home as possible. We decided on starting the lowest dose of poticin possible. We started the PIT around 10pm. My contractions got gradually steadier, but they weren’t painful. My mom, Chad, Patrice, and I were still just talking and laughing. Dr. Michele checked me at 11:30, and I was 4 cm and 70% effaced (compared to 3 cm earlier in the day). At some point we raised the PIT to 2 and dropped it back down to 1 when Morgan wasn’t reacting well to it. During this time we also tried some different positioning because Morgan was slightly posterior. After awhile though (around midnight) we all tried to get some rest. About 1am, I was lying in bed and feeling like I had to use the restroom. When I got up I realized I was leaking and saw the blooding show. Then, I went back to bed because contractions weren’t that bad and I wanted to sleep if I could. 2:15am, repeat of 1am, except this time when I got up there was a puddle of pink water at my feet. We decided to try walking. It took awhile to figure out that the walking monitor had dead batteries, but Chad helped the nurses with that. Around 3am the contractions started getting stronger. Next half hour they got closer and stronger…I leaned one Chad though each one. He really held me together because at this point they were coming right on top of each other and getting stronger each time. A little before 4pm, I was checked again and at 6cm and 80%. Dr. Michele turned off the PIT. As soon as the PIT was off, my contractions spread apart long enough for me to relax in between. About half an hour later, I was checked again and was 7 cm. I was lying in bed and trying to relax as much as possible. I wanted to get in the tub and try to relax more. My contractions weren’t too bad, but my back was killing me (Patrice said later that this might have been due to Morgan’s elbow in my back.) At this point I said, “If this is the hard part, I can do it.” I just wanted the back pain gone…I didn’t mind the contractions as much. Chad just continued to hold me through the contractions and rub my back. Only his touch worked though, when my mom tried, I yelled at her. About 5am, I was able to get in the tub. It felt so much better on my back to have that water pressure and helped me relax through the contractions too. It was hard to find a comfortable position due to the back pain though. About 5:30am, they had me get out to be checked again. As soon as I got out of the water, I felt a little pushy. I was really hoping that we were nearing the end now. When I was checked I was at 8cm. Dr. Michele wanted me to try not to push, but Patrice said that some pushing was alright if that’s what I felt. I tried to breathe though my contractions, but I just couldn’t help but push a little bit during each one. At this point, I was lying in the bed on my side with Chad and my mom trying to rub my back and hold me together. At 6:30am, I was checked again and had just a little lip of cervix left on one side, so they had me roll to my other side to try and open that side up more. A little after 7am, I was complete and making progress, when they told me I was making progress, I just kept thinking, “Well, can you see the head? It feels like it is right there!” 15 minutes later, he was crowning. 10 minutes later, his head was born and they told me to keep pushing until he was totally out! The last half an hour was probably the most painful of my life…but it felt like it went faster than it did. After he was born, they placed him on my belly and I said something like, “I really have a baby.” Chad was able to catch him when he was born (well, the last part of him, because he was holding my hand before that.) He as also able to cut the cord after it stopped pulsing. The official time of birth was 7:37am and placenta was born about 8am. I was so focused on pushing at the end that I didn’t really know what was going on and after everything I still felt a bit shocked that I had a baby, even more shocked than when Chadannounced we had a baby boy. We had felt he was a boy since the beginning so it just felt right. The rest of the morning was a bit crazy with visitors and pictures and a doctor checking on Morgan every once in awhile. Things calmed down in the afternoon when everyone left and we were able to settle in as a family and get some rest. We were able to leave the hospital at 7:30pm that night and came home to a great dinner made by my dad.

What was your favorite part of your baby’s birth?

Besides having our new son, my favorite parts were seeing how Chad took care of me and having Patrice there to help us make decisions and see that we had a good experience.

What would you do differently if you had another baby?

I would try to have my baby earlier than 3 weeks overdue and try to have one smaller than 10 lbs. Then maybe we would be able to have a real home birth. Oh, and if I had another hospital birth, I would bring olive oil.

How can we improve our services?

I don’t know how you can improve. You have all been terrific! If you can help make our experience as good as it was, than I can only imagine how wonderful it would have been at home (had the circumstances been better.)